Garland receives honorary doctorate from Belgian university

David Garland, Arthur T. Vanderbilt Professor of Law and a professor of sociology, accepted an honorary doctorate from Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Free University of Brussels) on December 9 for his “achievements in the field of law, criminology and sociology” and “scientific research on an interdisciplinary basis aimed at integrating the fields of criminology, law, sociology and philosophy.” Garland, a 2006-07 Guggenheim Fellow, is the author of The Culture of Control: Crime and Social Order in Contemporary Society.

Although not previously associated with the Free University of Brussels, Garland taught at nearby Leuven University in 1984, and his work came to the attention of Belgian scholars. Professors Sonja Snacken and Kristel Beyens of the Free University of Brussels have utilized some of Garland’s ideas in comparative research on European penology and crime control; on December 10, Garland participated in a research seminar in which Snacken and Beyens discussed the influence of Garland’s work on theirs. He also delivered a public lecture, “Peculiar Institution: America’s Death Penalty in an Age of Abolition,” and was given a copy of De Bestaffingssociologie van David Garland, a new book-length study in Dutch of Garland’s work.

Posted on December 15, 2009